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Archive for February, 2009
This week’s installment of “Around the Office” concerns rapper and pop culture phenomenon MC Hammer. Or is he just Hammer now? Not sure anymore.
In any case, everyone at Brain Traffic is now five degrees from MCH. Here’s how the Baconian tree works:
1. My husband William, owns an Etsy shop.
2. He had the idea last week to create a poster pantomiming the lyrics to "2 Legit 2 Quit." Just for fun.
3. Two days later, Hammer TWITTERED about it.
4. William found out through a fellow Etsian, who must have been following Hammer (which raises its own questions).
5. We have established, with some surety, that it’s the real Hammer*.
* He has not responded to requests for information as to how he found the poster. But William experienced quite the surge to his shop from said Tweet, so we’re all very thankful. Aahhh, the wide world made much smaller by the internet.
Posted in Around the Office
Like a lot of people, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my finances lately.
There are a lot of things that I either don’t like, or don’t understand, about money. And trying to get real information that makes sense to me . . . well, it’s hard to find.
Last fall, I decided it was time to open up an internet savings account. I looked at a couple of options. At the time, the rates were quite attractive.
I chose ING Direct. They didn’t have the highest rate.
So why did I pick them?
Simple: They spoke my language.
Their motto is simply, “Save your money.” That’s it. I get that. And whether I like to save or not, ING makes the process clear. The basic functions, transactions and transfers, leave no room for interpretation, either.
Even the privacy policy and the terms and conditions, notoriously ugly gluts of legalese on most sites, make sense. Here is an example:
These people clearly understand that saving or investing money is intimidating. Their tone is reassuring and conversational. So right away I feel secure about leaving my money with them. Why? They skip that highfalutin’ financial talk and stick to basics. I feel like I’m in control. (Empowering your users is always a good thing.)
For example, their "Declaration of Financial Independence" explains what being a saver really means. After some basic saving rules, they move to more emotional and global issues around saving money (and even a plug for the ol’ adage, money doesn’t buy happiness). It makes me think, "You GET me, ING!" And it sheds some light. Saving money is less about not getting new shoes, and more about making a better world. I hadn’t thought about that before.
ING also sends periodic e-newsletters chock full of information chunked out into bite-size bulleted lists and easy-to-navigate chunks of copy. They use bullet points, lists, and lots of headings to keep information organized. They touch on the emotional side of saving and investing, but don’t dwell on it. And the newsletter is task-focused so it gives me something to do with myself (besides freak out, I mean).
If a well-written website can inspire this chronic spender to save, anything is possible. I love that ING makes money management simple. Now the only question is . . . can I live without these new shoes? (ING would tell me, straightforwardly: Stick that cash in your savings account, Missy!)
Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, User Experience, Web Writing
Oh, hai! Here’s another list of links we’ve been grooving on.
Minnesota smart
Why are the Twin Cities a great place to work on the interwebs? Because of all the smart, passionate people we get to work alongside.
Rethink genius
Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk on having vs. being a genius. It’s long, but we highly recommend taking the 20 minutes to watch it.
Social Media, Inc.
Tom Smith explores why big brands struggle with social media. All companies should ponder before signing up for "MyFace," "Twckr," etc.
There are now more websites than there are humans
What does this mean for advertising and getting found?
Posted in Resources
Sometimes I get bogged down in what can't be done on a project: limited technology, tight timelines, organizational challenges, etc. These things are frustrating. Frustrations are distracting. Distractions keep work from getting done.
Here's the deal—every project has limitations. That needs to be seen as a good thing. Limitations create problems. Solving problems equals successful experiences. Successful experiences equal happy businesses and users.
Include time early in your project process to uncover as many limits as you can. Missing a constraint can result in wasted time and work, creating additional limitations that you didn't anticipate.
Once you've identified all the pain points you can, decide what you're going to do with them.
Here are three options that will keep you and your team moving forward:
Accept the limits. Some things are what they are. Everyone has a budget. Legal reviews are non-negotiable. Immovable limits are a source of frustration for everyone, but repeatedly pointing them out has the unintended effect of lowering morale. Focus instead on what you can change.
Ignore the limits. I love the movie Clue for many reasons, one of which is the introduction of red herring into my vocabulary. Don't be distracted just because something is frustrating. Ask yourself: What would I do if it was different? Or gone? If there's no change to the final outcome, then ignore it and move on.
Challenge the limits. "Because I said so" was the bane of my childhood. I didn't accept it then, nor do I accept it now. Ask why not—and listen to the answers. Make sure something is actually a limit and not just a habit.
So, embrace your limits. If you need to, take a moment to complain to a sympathetic ear. But do it quickly and be done with it. And when it's all over, celebrate what you've overcome.
Posted in Information Architecture
I’m certainly not the first—nor will I be the last—to gripe about companies leaping onto the social media bandwagon before they’re good and ready. Before they understand whether blogs, networking applications, or online games actually play nice with their brand and with their audience.
Wells Fargo, I’m talking to you.
I just visited Stagecoach Island, your virtual community. I took my eager avatar snowboarding, then on a quest into outer space. She started saving “shells” to buy her dream home. She even picked up a few real-life financial tips along the way.
I’m all for bringing fiscal responsibility to life for young audiences. These are dubious economic times, and it’s never too early to set a good example. I also get that you’ve probably been told to show a little personality, already.
But.
Stagecoach Island feels to me like the desperate cry of a parent trying to prove he’s still “with it” so his teenager will take him seriously.
News flash: Kids don’t actually want their parents to be cool. They want them to be real. Also, I’m guessing the audience you’re trying to reach isn’t going to be impressed by a video game run by a bank. But what do I know?
I share this example for a reason. In my mind, Stagecoach Island is a major step in the wrong direction.
On the other hand, you hit a home run for me back in November. I was reluctantly logging in to my dwindling savings account one day, when up popped an oversized shot of your distinguished CEO. His photo accompanied a sobering, yet cautiously optimistic, letter. Times are tight, it said, but we’re all in this together. Stick with us—we won’t let you down.
It was the right message at the right time from a company courageous enough to break the fourth wall and let me know they understood my needs and my fears.
Transparency (or illusions thereof) in the corporate world are all the rage these days. But this was something more. It was authenticity. Accountability. I didn’t need a snowboarding avatar—I needed a real person to look me in the eye (as it were) and tell it like it is.
As a champion of candid, no-nonsense content, I have a humble plea: It’s that companies like yours think twice about wooing users with adventures in virtual worlds and focus instead on helping them succeed in this one. Not just with letters from the CEO, but with well-crafted, carefully planned content that educates customers, inspires action, and respects the intelligence of their users.
Posted in User Experience
Around 3 p.m., Brain Traffic takes a break (coordinated by Angie 1.0). It doesn’t happen every day. And not everyone can always participate. But those of us without pressing deadlines step away from our desks, often to pick up miniature containers of Play-Doh. (Thoughtfully supplied by Katie.)
Not many of us are expert sculptors. (Except Christine, who’s good at everything artistic and crafty. She’s our resident Martha Stewart, and she makes delicious toffee, too.) But creating works of art is beside the point.
The main goals of Play-Doh time are simple:
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Relax. Taking time away from our desks to recharge, breathe, and de-stress.
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Chat. We happen to enjoy each other’s company, and chatting often leads to laughter, and laughter is contagious—especially for Katie.
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Play. Mashing colored clay in our hands gets our creative juices flowing. Play-Doh’s tagline states it best: “Imagination Taking Shape.”
Play-Doh time usually only lasts around 15 minutes. It’s not a huge investment of our time. But it is a creative investment in our quality of work.
A little playtime gets those brain cells moving again, energizing our creative process. And once they’re moving, there’s no stopping them. After our Play-Doh break, we knock out more great work. And just a couple hours later, we go home with a feeling of satisfied accomplishment, and some fun memories.
Angie 1.0
Meghan
From left: Italian Dinner by Elizabeth (including a bottle of Chianti and spaghetti with meatballs), BT Skull by Angie 1.0, and Frog-Man with Bow Tie by Angie 2.0.
Posted in Around the Office
I think it's time we revisit an outdated practice—the dreaded splash page. You know, that Flash introduction page that displays before you can actually enter the site.
You probably remember these popping up on websites years ago by companies wanting to show off their design creds. Then people started talking about how annoying they were. Well, they've vanished from a lot of sites, and for good reason—they're a real killer for user experience. But they've been popping up here and there, lately, and they put a real damper on an experience with a site.
I recently clicked on a banner for a book I thought looked interesting. I was directed to this site. Before entering the site, a Flash introduction page played in a rotating loop.
This is a lengthy process just to get to a website’s home page.
- I navigate to website
- Splash page loads
- I acknowledge that I'm not looking for this content
- I look for “skip intro” button
- I click “skip intro” button
- I navigate to relevant content
But, by step six, I was no longer interested. Why would I want to watch some swirling graphics with no words that tell me nothing about:
- The product
- The company
- What kind of information I can expect
If the site gives the user the option to skip the intro, then he or she most certainly will take that option (if the button is obvious enough). What value does the splash page have site designers know ahead of time that they will most likely not be interested in seeing it? The user came to the website to find information, and the splash page acts as a barrier to that content.
It's instances like this when the following questions need to be asked:
- How is the site presenting the information to the user?
- Is the content valuable to the user?
With Flash splash pages, you can pretty much guarantee the answer to question #2 is a no. Still. After all this time.
Posted in Content Strategy, User Experience, Web Writing
Welcome to this week’s edition of links we like. Let’s get right to it, shall we?
In Defense of Readers
YES! Users want content, which means the design of readability is very important. This post on A List Apart takes a careful, insightful look at how users read.
Make your Firefox work for you
We could all use some shortcuts, no?
Mind-mapping content strategy
It’s the first we’ve seen.
SEO and survival
We’d like to add that you also need a good content strategy.
How One Little Letter Can Sabotage Your Meaning
Editing still matters—spelling and grammar go a long way in helping readers understand your content. Even in the age of spell check, you must choose your words, and use your words, carefully.
Social media secrets
This ClickZ blog post, combined with a great MIMA event today by Jeff Rohrs from ExactTarget, are good reminders that you aren’t in control when it comes to social media. And that’s a good thing. It means people are interacting with your content. And, well, isn’t that the point?
Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, Style Guides and Such, User Experience, Web Writing
Eight words. Just eight little words.
With one outburst, “Now that’s what I call an “interactive graphic!” I’ve finally, officially given in to the power of the geek side. And you know what? I don’t even care. In fact, I’m psyched. Why? Because the NYT has rocked my world with an interactive graphic that’s totally jiggable.*
The piece, titled What Your Global Neighbors Are Buying provides an overview of spending habits across the globe. The information it presents is less than earth-shattering—does anybody outside of a diaper not know that Americans spend an ungodly amount of money on, um, everything?
What I did not expect was to encounter an interactive graphic that simultaneously does its job AND looks good enough to eat.
Specifically, I likey that NYT didn’t stink up its graphic with unnecessary bells and whistles. No long-winded copy. No extra stats jammed into the rollover. No convoluted keys or systems.
Just the gross total for the country, a bite-sized intro paragraph, and intuitive graphics (bigger boxes mean more spending). But what really makes me want to shoot off cowboy hat-shaped fireworks is that NYT made the information digestible. Content’s broken into categories which are broken out by tabs. Really lovely stuff.
Okay, NOW I’m hungry for breakfast. Think I’ll have a content-nerd McMuffin.
P.S.: I was just on CNN.com, and I noticed their story highlights feature on each story page. It’s a bulleted list of four key highlights. This, as a web writer and a reader, makes me happy. Of course they could (and should) take it one step further and link each bullet point to corresponding content further down on the page. But for now I’m happy. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.
*(adj.) exhibiting characteristics worthy of inciting a celebratory jig
Posted in Content Strategy, Information Architecture, Web Writing
Contact us. Contact. How to contact us. It’s everywhere online. Often, it’s the reason for visiting a site—to connect with an individual, a company, or a group.
Proof points:
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Googling “contact us” yields 1,540,000,000 results. A BILLION AND A HALF.
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The government expects all federal websites to have a contact us link on every page.
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When a phone book lands on my front stoop, it moves directly to the recycling bin.
Despite the fact that well . . . everyone is looking to make contact, every website seems to do it a little differently. Here are a few examples to seed the conversation, and our "Contact Us" set on Flickr:
A la carte contact
If you’re poking around on Apple’s site, and decide you’d like to make contact:
Scroll to the lower-right corner of the page (any page) and click the “contact us” link. From there, you can scan for a relevant topic that prompted your contact query. Information is presented in a variety of formats—mailing address, phone numbers, related links, popular topics and e-mail.
YAY: There’s a solution for everything. From actually making contact to getting more information to help answer a question—it’s in there.
NAY: There’s a solution for everything. It’s a lot to absorb and may even be considered overwhelming if you aren’t committed to dig in and find what you need.
Concise contact
Minneapolis drama devotees can uncover a lot of information online for the Fringe Festival. What if you need more?
Use the left navigation, to find a persistent link to “contact us.” It’s just what it says – simple, clear information about contacting Festival staff. Includes a mailing address, phone, fax and online form to submit a message.
YAY: There are no frills here. It’s just what it says, “contact us.”
NAY: Not a big fan of asking people to classify the subject of their message. The choices are never accurately descriptive (i.e., there’s no option to “whine,” “complain,” or “send angry note”).
In touch with Twitter
For people who are on the Twitter train, there’s an easy-to-spot link in the footer for making contact.
Click “Contact,” and you’ll arrive at a page titled “About Twitter” with a “Contact us” subhead.
Here, you can visit the blog for more information, check out an online support center, get the mailing address or email for partnership and press inquiries. There’s no phone number, but then again, in the office beauty shot on the contact page, there isn’t a phone in sight.
YAY: In this case, it makes sense to package “About” and “Contact” information together – they’re both succinct and a fair amount of the topics are likely reasons people would make contact.
NAY: It’s odd that there isn’t an option to use Twitter as a form of contact. Oh, wait. There IS a Twitter ID to message about spam—but you only find that after clicking “Customer support” on the contact page.
Are my expectations too high? Possibly. But the truth is that a little TLC for online “contact” can make a huge difference in customer experience.
Posted in Content Strategy, User Experience, Web Writing
